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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2019-02-21, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2019. Editorials Opinions President: Keith Roulston • Publisher: Deb Sholdice Editor: Shawn Loughlin • Reporter: Denny Scott Advertising Sales: Brenda Nyveld • Heather Fraser The Citizen P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. N0M 1H0 Ph. 519-523-4792 Fax 519-523-9140 P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. N0G 1H0 Phone 519-887-9114 E-mail info@northhuron.on.ca Website www.northhuron.on.ca Looking Back Through the Years CCNA Member Member of the Ontario Press Council The Citizen is published 50 times a year in Brussels, Ontario by North Huron Publishing Company Inc. Subscriptions are payable in advance at a rate of $38.00/year ($36.19 + $1.81 G.S.T.) in Canada; $160.00/year in U.S.A. and $205/year in other foreign countries. Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event of a typographical error, only that portion of the advertisement will be credited. Advertising Deadlines: Mon. 2 p.m. - Brussels; Mon. 4 p.m. - Blyth. PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 40050141 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO CIRCULATION DEPT. PO BOX 152 BRUSSELS ON N0G 1H0 email: info@northhuron.on.ca February 22, 1968 The Brussels PeeWee hockey team trampled their competition from Zurich by a score of 8-0 to earn them a spot in the Western Ontario Athletic Association (WOAA) finals. With their series victory over Zurich, Brussels would go on to play Paisley in a best-of-five series for the crown. The locals would begin the series on the road in Paisley, before returning to Brussels on Feb. 23 for the second game of the series. Judy Vallance of Brussels won top honours in the Huron County public speaking competition held in Clinton. February 21, 1973 The front page of The Blyth Standard lamented the lack of advertising ahead of the Huron by- election, set for March 15, stating that only the Liberal Party appeared interested in appealing to locals. “All three parties kicked off their campaign with extensive advertising campaigns this week, but only the Liberals felt the value of reaching voters in the northern parts of McKillop and Hullett Townships,” the story read. Richard W. Collings of RR1, Blyth was among 30 students to be featured in the 1973 edition of Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities by turning heads at Massachusetts’ Springfield College. The Blyth Board of Trade voted to work with the Blyth Agricultural Society to help find a replacement for the Blyth Fall Fair, which had been officially discontinued the previous week. February 22, 1995 Representatives from the Huron County Plowmen’s Association felt they were very well received at the annual general meeting of the Ontario Plowmen’s Association in their bid to bring the 1999 International Plowing Match (IPM) to Huron County. Neil McGavin, who was one of the members of the local delegation, said that the county put forward a strong argument on behalf of itself that he hoped would play a role in potentially nipping competition in the bud. “We were very well received,” McGavin said. “At present, there are no other counties prepared to make a bid and we are hoping that an early offer might scare off the competition.” It was Huron County Queen of the Furrow Shannon Craig who spoke at the meeting on behalf of her home county, telling provincial members of the enthusiasm of the youth of Huron County for agriculture. She included the fact that the county had produced 10 students who had earned $2,500 scholarships from the organization in agriculture-related fields and that Huron County consistently provided the largest number of entries for recent IPMs. Bus service had returned to Blyth thanks to Grey-Bruce Air Bus offering a daily run to London, leaving the village just after 9 a.m. every day and returning just before 7:30 p.m. every night. The Blyth Business Association was welcoming residents to the Blyth Village Council Chambers on March 1 for a brainstorming session for the 1995 Rutabaga Festival, as well as other special events and promotions to help attract visitors to Blyth. February 26, 2009 Central Huron Councillor Alison Lobb was named the new chair of the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority, succeeding Mark Beaven, a Morris-Turnberry councillor at the time. In his farewell speech, Beaven said the Maitland Valley Conservation was the “Toronto Maple Leafs of conservation authorities” in that it attracted talent when they were young, only to watch that talent makes its way to other conservation authorities in the years to come. Jamie Zimmerman of the Ontario Fire Marshal’s office spoke to North Huron Council regarding its next fire chief in the wake of the restructuring of the department. He suggested that North Huron should have one chief for the entire department, followed by a deputy- chief for each division (Blyth and Wingham), followed by two captains for each division and then the firefighters. Morris-Turnberry Council was requesting a traffic study for Belgrave, saying that some form of a crosswalk across London Road was necessary to ensure the safety of residents on the east side of the road travelling to the west side of the road where most of the community’s facilities, like the community centre, park and ball diamond were located. Blyth native Jackie Falconer was set to lead the elite 18-member York University Chamber Choir for a special performance at the Tribute Communities Recital Hall at the university, featuring the work of William Byrd, Michael Haydn and Fanny Hensel, meaning the vocalists would all be singing in English, German and Latin. Falconer’s work with her alma matter came before she was set to be part of a performance of Mozart’s Requiem at New York City’s Carnegie Hall later that summer. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada. We are not responsible for unsolicited newsscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright Let’s help them do it Any community, but especially a rural one, couldn’t prosper without the hundreds of people who volunteer their time, talents and efforts to give us things we wouldn’t otherwise have. Often, we don’t even know how much these people contribute until someone points it out. Last week’s newspaper was an example where awards were given to several individuals for a job well done. There was Belgrave-area student Grace Caldwell who received the Vu Pham Award from the Dave Mounsey Memorial Fund’s Good Samaritan Awards recognizing dedication of youth for various volunteer activities she takes on. Also receiving a Good Samaritan Award, this time the Corporal Matthew Dinning award, was Bob Rowe for raising nearly $100,000 for the families of fallen soldiers through the Freedom Syrup project at the sugar bush on the Walton-area farm of Jeff and Shannon McGavin. Last month Rowe also received a Remarkable Citizen Award from Huron- Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson for the same work. Similar examples of the good deeds can be taken from nearly every issue of The Citizen. Recently the latest round of support to local charities was passed out from the proceeds 2017 International Plowing Match at Walton – money that wouldn’t have been available but for the hard work of hundreds of volunteers who made the match successful. Meanwhile volunteers in the Brussels area are taking up the major challenge of raising money to renovate the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre. It takes so such effort to make a rural community successful that each of us should share the burden with the volunteers any way we can. — KR Amplifying the rural voice Lost in the fuss about the federal cabinet shuffle last month was the news that a new Ministry of Rural Economic Development was being created. (Rural news is never a particularly hot topic in the national media and the issue was further muddied by the intrigue over why Jody Wilson-Raybould was shuffled out of the Justice Ministry.) Still, the appointment of Nova Scotia MP Bernadette Jordan as the Minister of Rural Economic Development is regarded as very important by those involved in promoting healthy rural communities. “This puts rural Canada in the federal government in a very visible way,” said Ryan Gibson, a professor of economic development at the University of Guelph and a frequent participant in events sponsored by Blyth’s Canadian Centre for Rural Creativity. The Canadian Federation of Agriculture issued a press release saying: “As rural-based industry, the competitiveness of Canada’s agricultural industry is intimately connected to the vibrancy of rural communities and critically important to Canada’s economic growth.” Such high visibility at the federal cabinet table has been missing since 2013 when the former Rural Secretariat was abolished, Gibson noted. Keeping rural issues anywhere near top of mind for important decision-makers is a huge challenge. As people speed through or fly over vast areas of land with nary a 40-storey condo town in sight, it’s easy to forget that millions of people make their living in rural Canada. They deserve to have the special requirements of their way of life considered when important decisions are being made. With a federal election due this fall and the recent scandal in Ottawa casting doubt about whether the Liberals can win re-election, the new ministry could be swept away before it even gets organized. It shouldn’t be. Here’s hoping whoever forms the government after the election realizes it’s important to retain a strong rural voice at the highest levels of government. — KR Don’t choose sides Amazon’s decision last week to cancel the building of a planned second headquarters in New York after opposition mounted against the company, shows again the dubious value of subsidizing huge, profitable corporations. Giving the world’s largest company a $3 billion subsidy to locate in New York probably seemed to be a good investment when New York officials first proposed it. After all, Amazon promised to create 25,000 jobs for people who would buy homes and pay taxes to the city (not to mention the taxes on Amazon’s buildings). But in courting the world’s largest retailer, city officials really chose sides on the future of retail business. Thousands of small retailers were going to be taxed in order to subsidize the behemoth that is working to put them out of business. Union members would be contributing tax dollars to subsidize Amazon which is notoriously anti-union. As seen in the lack of loyalty General Motors has demonstrated by closing its Oshawa assembly plant only 10 years after the Canadian and Ontario governments saved the company from bankruptcy, there’s no sense of responsibility in big business. Given that, governments should never take the side of corporations against ordinary taxpayers. — KR &